REVIEW: BOREALIS BY RONALD MALFI

TITLE: BOREALIS
SERIES: N/A
AUTHOR: RONALD MALFI
GENRE: HORROR
EDITION READ: KINDLE
AMAZON PRICE: PB -- / KINDLE $2.66


SYNOPSIS:

A novella-

On a routine crabbing expedition in the Bering Sea, Charlie Mears and the rest of the men aboard the trawler "Borealis" discover something unbelievable: a young woman running naked along the ridge of a passing iceberg. The men rescue her and bring her aboard the boat. But they will soon learn her horrible secret. By the time they find out why she was alone on the ice and what she truly is the nightmare will have begun, as one by one she infects them with an evil that brings about unimaginable terrors.





MY RATING: 4 STARS

So far, I'm two-for-two. This is my second story by Malfi and it didn't disappoint.

Although this is a novella, the characterization and imagery did not suffer from the short length. Borealis was a unique story for me because I don't think I have read anything like this in the past—that alone was refreshing.

The girl in this story seriously creeped me out. The strange way she spoke, mannerisms, having no name, etc., made shivers run down my spine. She just feels “wrong”.

There is so much I would like to say about this story, but they would all include spoilers—so you will just have to read Borealis.




Other reviews for this author: 

The Mourning House by Ronald Malfi


*Book Hollow*
 

REVIEW: STALK ME BY JILLIAN DODD

TITLE: STALK ME
SERIES: THE KEATYN CHRONICLES #1
AUTHOR: JILLIAN DODD
GENRE: YA / NEW ADULT
EDITION READ: KINDLE
AMAZON PRICE: PB 14.99 / KINDLE $0.99


SYNOPSIS:

Gossip Girl meets Hollywood in this steamy new series by That Boy author, Jillian Dodd.

Keatyn has everything she ever dreamed. Her life is following the script she wrote for the perfect high school experience. She's popular, goes to the best parties, dates the hottest guy, and sits at the most-coveted lunch table.

She's just not sure she wants it anymore.

Because, really, things aren't all that perfect.
Her best friend is threatening to tell everyone her perfect relationship is a scam.
Her perfect boyfriend gets drunk at every party they go to.
It's exhausting always trying to look and act perfect.
And, deep down, she isn't sure if she has any true friends.

To add to the drama, her movie star mom has a creepy stalker.
A hot, older man flirts with her and tells her they should make a movie together.
And she's crushing on an adorable surfer. Dating him would mean committing social suicide.

So she writes a new script. One where all the pieces of her life will come together in perfect harmony.
But little does she know, there's someone who will do anything to make sure that doesn't happen.





MY RATING: 2.5 STARS

Okay, I'm not with the masses on this story. I really didn't like it very much. I felt Keatyn was extremely shallow and I didn't really feel she evolved all that much throughout the story. The only time I felt she wasn't self centered was when it came to her little sisters. Another thing that irked me about Keatyn was the fact that she boy-flopped constantly. She would tell a boy she loved him, and in the next chapter she was in love with a different boy.

The book is called Stalk Me, so I assumed this would be the main focus of the story. I didn't feel it was. I felt like the stalking took a backseat to Keatyn's boy-crazy antics. I also felt the stalker was pretty predictable. I would've liked to have seen more mystery with his identity.

Overall, there wasn't much I really enjoyed about this book. Will I read the next book in this series? No. Will I ever read anything by this author again? Probably. I just didn't like the particular story.







*Book Hollow*
















 

REVIEW: THE MOURNING HOUSE BY RONALD MALFI

TITLE: THE MOURNING HOUSE
SERIES: N/A
AUTHOR: RONALD MALFI
GENRE: HORROR
EDITION READ: KINDLE
AMAZON PRICE: PB N/A / KINDLE $2.99


SYNOPSIS:

Devastated by tragedy, Dr. Sam Hatch is a shadow of his former self. He travels the byroads of America, running away from a past he cannot escape. There is no salvation for him.

And then he sees the house. Like a siren, it calls to him. Yet the house is not what it appears to be. Is it a blessing, a gift...or a curse?





MY RATING: 5 STARS

I'd like to thank Laurie (Fetch Me My Fainting Couch) for bringing this book to my attention.

I kid you not, I think this novella gave me heart palpitations. The Mourning House the haunting and frightening tale of Dr. Sam Hatch. After losing his family tragically, he is left a shell of his former self. The despair, loneliness, and guilt that Sam experiences comes across loud and clear through this expertly written novella.

With many novellas I'm left feeling like the story isn't complete and lacks the detail that draws you into the story. This is NOT true of The Mourning House. This novella was solid and complete from start to finish. This story has the “wow factor” that will have you searching out more of Malfi's work.

I usually have at least one complaint about a story, but not with this one...not even one. The Mourning House is an amazing story that I would suggest all horror fans read. 
 







*Book Hollow*
















 

REVIEW: DEAD CITY BY JOE MCKINNEY

TITLE: DEAD CITY
SERIES: DEAD CITY #1
AUTHOR: JOE MCKINNEY
GENRE: HORROR
EDITION READ: PAPERBACK
AMAZON PRICE: PB $6.89 / KINDLE $4.30


SYNOPSIS:

Battered by five cataclysmic hurricanes in three weeks, the Texas Gulf Coast and half of the Lone Star State is reeling from the worst devastation in history. Thousands are dead or dying but the worst is only beginning. Amid the wreckage, something unimaginable is happening: a deadly virus has broken out, returning the dead to life with an insatiable hunger for human flesh...
The Nightmare Begins
Within hours, the plague has spread all over Texas. San Antonio police officer Eddie Hudson finds his city overrun by a voracious army of the living dead. Along with a small group of survivors, Eddie must fight off the savage horde in a race to save his family...
Hell On Earth
There's no place to run. No place to hide. The zombie horde is growing as the virus runs rampant. Eddie knows he has to find a way to destroy these walking horrors...but he doesn't know the price he will have to pay...





MY RATING: 3 STARS

This is your typical zombie book. It was a little better than okay, but I wasn't amazed by it either. As with any book, the tone is set within the first couple of chapters. Within the first chapter of Dead City, I didn't know if I would even like the main character. Eddie is a San Antonio police officer who is introduced, in my opinion, somewhat weak. He is on the phone with his wife and she is (excuse my bluntness) a raving bitch. If I were Eddie, I would have fed that woman to the zombies. Yeah, I didn't like the wife at all.

As with other zombie novels, there is total devastation and chaos. Eddie witnesses his friends and co-workers being killed. Dead City didn't lack action, but it did lack that extra little something that makes a really great book stand out amongst others of its kind. The book did pick up and interest me a little more when Marcus was introduced. He was funny and made for some interesting scenes. However, it wasn't too long before we were bidding Marcus a somber farewell.

The end of the book seemed to tie up way too nicely for me (especially to be part of a series).

Overall, I liked this book, but didn't love it. I doubt I will bother reading the other books in the series, but I will probably read more books authored by McKinney.








*Book Hollow*
















 

THURSDAY KINDLE FREEBIES

Please make sure the titles are still free before downloading :) This listing was compiled for EReader IQ.



My Soul to Keep (The Soul Keeper Series - Young Adult Paranormal Romance)
by Melissa Solis
4.3 Stars (30 Reviews

Seventeen year old Brennen Hale has been called a miracle, very fortunate and most frequently– lucky. The only problem is she doesn't believe in luck. To say she has had a rough life is an understatement, the fact is, that as much as her guardian angel wants to see her live, a faction of demons wants her dead even more. Brennen starts her senior year with the intent of keeping a low profile. She has secrets to keep and if they get out, her life could be ruined. Her plan quickly loses ground as she makes a connection with not one but two new students in her classes. Brennen doesn't know it but her lifetime guardian angel has just befriended her. He can’t let her know who he really is or how he really feels about her in order to keep her safe. He is forced to watch the only love he has ever known fall in love with someone else. Book Two in the Soul Keeper series, titled- My Soul to Take, will be released in the early spring of 2013!

Length: 260 Pages (473 KB) / Lending: Enabled / Added: Mar 14th, 2013
 
 
 
 
 
Project ELE (ELE Series #1) (The ELE Series)
by Rebecca Gober
4.6 Stars (120 Reviews

From the authors of the best selling Night Marchers Series, comes an all new apocalyptic series with a paranormal twist that is enjoyable for all ages. Millions have already died, and thousands more are perishing daily. As a last ditch effort to preserve the human race, the government implements Project ELE. With the earth heating at rapid speeds, all remaining survivors are forced to turn to F.E.M.A. shelters to wait out ELE's wrath. Fifteen-year-old Willow Mosby's life, as she knows it, ends the moment she walks through the shelter's door. Willow has to quickly adapt to the new challenges that shelter life demands, the least of which includes making new friends, working a full time job and experiencing her first relationship. Soon after making an interesting discovery, Willow and her friends start exhibiting strange abilities. Seeking answers, they embark on a mission to find out what these new abilities mean and whether they are a gift or a curse. This new adventure can send her world crashing down around her. The question is: Can Willow survive the fall? 

Length: 334 Pages (533 KB) / Lending: Enabled / Added: Mar 13th, 2013
 
 
 
 
Wild Night Is Calling
by Jack Kilborn
3.9 Stars (56 Reviews

Wisconsin. Summer. Late at night. Two teenage girls are picked up by two boys, who invite them back to their place to party. But an innocent mistake turns the party into a nightmare, where nothing is what it seems... Wild Night Is Calling is a 6000 word short story by thriller writer J.A. Konrath (Shaken, Trapped) and romantic suspense writer Ann Voss Peterson (A Cop in Her Stocking, Seized By The Sheik). Peterson wrote the first half. Konrath wrote the second half. This ebook, specially formatted for Kindle with an active table of contents, also contains an excerpt from Konrath and Peterson's collaborative spy thriller, FLEE. Together they also wrote EXPOSED, BABE ON BOARD, and SPREE. About the authors JA Konrath is the author of twenty-three novels, and is best known for the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thriller series. Ann Voss Peterson is the author of twenty-seven suspense novels, with more than 3 million copies in print.

Length: 30 Pages (151 KB) / Lending: Enabled / Added: Apr 3rd, 2011
 
 
 
 
When the ink dries
by Hannah Warren
4.2 Stars (13 Reviews

What happens when a Romance writer meets a prince from the city of her dreams? Author Heather Simpson is taking a cruise on a break from her husband when she is approached by a handsome aristocrat who seems to know everything about her. When the ship docks the next day, he invites her into his home and into his heart. As she returns to her husband, was this a short steamy fling or a significant event in the web of coincidences that brought them together and as surely parted them again? Sometimes it seems we are destined to meet up with the love of our life for only a fleeting moment, leaving us thinking, 'Did fate work so hard to bring us so little or is there more to come?'

Length: 293 Pages (437 KB) / Lending: Enabled / Added: Feb 1st, 2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

REVIEW: IF I STAY BY GAYLE FORMAN

IF I STAY
IF I STAY #1
GAYLE FORMAN
GENRE: YA
EDITION: PAPERBACK

SYNOPSIS:

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heart-achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice Mia commands.





MY RATING: 5 STARS

I really didn't think a book where the main character is in a coma for 90-95% of the book would be worth the read—WRONG. This book is! If I Stay will is an emotional, thought provoking story that will tug at your heart strings.

The author did a wonderful job a switching between the present and Mia's memories of past events. Mia's emotions and her ultimate dilemma come through loud and clear to the reader.

I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.”

After having so much ripped away from her in a matter of seconds, Mia has a decision to make. Is life worth really coming back to? This book is based on that one simple question. Although this is Mia's ultimate dilemma, this story had me pondering my thoughts about life/death. What would I do in Mia's situation?

Not only is this book emotional and thought provoking, it's also very inspiring. I can't express how wonderful this book really is. To understand you really have to read it—and I suggest that you do.








*Book Hollow*
















 

REVIEW: IMPOSSIBLE BY KOMAL KANT

IMPOSSIBLE
WITH ME #1
KOMAL KANT
GENRE: YA / ROMANCE
EDITION: KINDLE FORMAT
KINDLE PRICE: $0.99 / PRIME MEMBERS: $0.00


SYNOPSIS:

Ashton Summers is on her way to becoming the most popular girl in school and nothing—or no one—is going to stand in her way. Especially not Luca Byron, her freak neighbor, with his tattoos, loud music, and distracting green eyes.

Luca Byron has three goals in life: get through high school with a low profile, make sure his garage band becomes something more than a hobby, and try to forget about his insufferable ex-best friend, Ashton, who he can’t get out of his mind.

The last thing Ashton and Luca want to do is rekindle their friendship, but when Ashton takes a tumble down the social ladder, Luca—with his new makeover—is the only one who can help her rise up again by pretending to be her boyfriend. At first, being together is unbearable and annoying, but things start to change as Ashton and Luca discover the real reasons they drifted apart seven years ago.

Now, keeping their hands off each other seems impossible.





MY RATING: 4 STARS

Really 3.5 stars, but I'll round up on this one (which I normally don't do).

Hmm...well, there really isn't too much I can say about Impossible—but I don't mean that in a bad way. This was a really fast and enjoyable read. I can't say it was all that original, because it wasn't, but still highly enjoyable.

It's the old play on popularity, mean girls, backstabbing, high school drama, and falling for the emo rocker boy (who really isn't emo, but just likes to dress that way).

I really enjoyed Ashton and Luca's backstory as children and the common bond they shared with Luca's father. Ashton drove me nuts for a while in the story because her sole interest in most of the book was about being popular and stepping on whoever she had to to maintain her social status. However, you can see the potential in Ashton to be a good person.

If you are looking for a quick and enjoyable read I would suggest this story.







*Book Hollow*
















 

TWO BOOKS DUMPED INTO THE DNF PILE

I hate not finishing what I start, especially when it comes to reading. However, two books just didn't make it for me this week and got dumped into the DNF pile. 

I normally don't write reviews or even acknowledge books I don't finish on Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, or even my blog; but starting today, I will no longer ignore them. I won't be putting reviews up on GR, LT, or SF, but I will be talking about them on my blog.


First up is:

If Angels Burn
Darkyn #1
Lynn Viehl
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Synopsis:

SHE RESTORES THE LIGHT OF HOPE.
Dr. Alexandra Keller is Chicago's most brilliant reconstructive surgeon.

HE DWELLS IN SHADOW.
Michael Cyprien is New Orleans's most reclusive millionaire--and in desperate need of Dr. Keller's skills.

A NEW DAWN AWAITS THEM BOTH....
Beneath the foundation of a mansion in the heart of the Garden District, Alexandra will perform an illegal surgery. Her patient's disfigurement is beyond medical repair. But his body's ability to recuperate from his wounds borders on the miraculous.

Alexandra knows Michael Cyprien is no ordinary patient. Intrigued by how his remarkable physiology might benefit medical science, she is even more compelled by his presence--and the mystery surrounding him and his associates, a cadre of immortals who call themselves the Darkyn.


Why I Didn't Finish:


Boredom. This book bored me to tears. The reader is bombarded with Alex Keller's good deeds. It was like the author had to make sure we knew every good, self-sacrificing deed she's ever done. It seemed long winded and just a lot of talk and no real action. By the time Michael Cyprien is introduced, I thought the story might pick up. Well, it didn't happen. This book just wasn't for me. 


---------------------------------------------------------------


The second on the list this week:


If You Stay
Beautifully Broken #1
Courtney Cole
Genre: Romance / New Adult


Synopsis:

24-year old Pax Tate is an asshole.
Seriously.

He’s a tattooed, rock-hard bad-boy with a bad attitude to match.

But he’s got his reasons.

His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with guilt although he doesn’t understand why. What he does know is that he and his dad are left alone and with more issues than they can count.

As Pax grew up, he tried to be the kid his father always wanted; the perfect golden boy, but it didn’t work. His dad couldn’t overcome his grief long enough to notice and Pax couldn’t keep up the impossible perfect façade.
So he slipped far, far from it.

Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the ugliness, the black void that he doesn’t want to deal with. If he pretends that the emptiness isn’t there, then it isn’t, right?
Wrong.

And it’s never more apparent than when he meets Mila.
Sweet, beautiful Mila Hill is the fresh air to his hardened frown, the beauty to his ugly heart. He doesn’t know how to not hurt her, but he quickly realizes that he’s got to figure it out because he needs her to breathe.

When memories of his mother’s death resurface from where he’s repressed them for so long, Mila is there to catch him when the guilt starts making sense. Mila is the one…the one who can save him from his broken troubled heart; from his issues, from the emptiness.

But only if he can stop being an asshole long enough to allow it.

He knows that. And he’s working on it.

But is that enough to make her stay?



Why I Didn't Finish:

 This story contained one of the most unlikable characters EVER in a book. Yes, I know, the above (too long) synopsis explains that Pax is an asshole so the reader knows this very fact before even starting chapter 1. Characters can be assholes, and yet have the potential to be likable. I didn't find this to be true with Pax. He was just plain unlikable.

I did have high hopes for this book because chapter 1 started off very strong and intense. However, the more I read into the book the less interested I became in the characters. I didn't even like Mila. She portrays herself as a good girl and wanting to take things slow with Pax, yet her second date she's naked with him--and this was AFTER she witness him getting a BJ from what he calls a "bar whore". Yeah, no thanks. 
 

REVIEW: WAIT FOR YOU BY J. LYNN

WAIT FOR YOU
J. LYNN (JENNIFER ARMENTROUT)
GENRE: ROMANCE

SYNOPSIS:

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.





MY RATING: 5 STARS

W-O-W!! I freakin' LOVED this book! Jennifer Armentrout—you are the shiznit!

I loved the characters and the storyline. Avery had a very traumatic experience when she was 14 and has let it consume her. Her parents are unsupportive and horrible, and her friends abandoned her. She wants to put as much distance between her and her past as possible moving from Texas to attend college in West Virginia. She finds out soon enough that her problems can't be solved by pretending they don't exist. Avery tends to be her own worst enemy.

Cam is her love interest in this story and totally swoon-worthy. He's a good guy and is just what Avery needs to leave her past where it belongs.

There are some really steamy, fog-up-your-windows, scenes in this book also. Hot, hot, hot!

One thing I did notice is there are some editing errors scattered throughout the book, but (I can't believe I'm saying this) I DON'T CARE. For once, the story was so good that I don't care about the errors. I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't even bother to be annoyed by the errors. That's really saying something because that is my biggest pet peeve in a book. This story is definitely a must read!






*Book Hollow*
















 

REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL DISASTER BY JAMIE MCGUIRE

BEAUTIFUL DISASTER
BEAUTIFUL #1
JAMIE MCGUIRE
GENRE: ROMANCE

SYNOPSIS:

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.




MY RATING: 4 STARS

I was glued to this book from beginning to end. The dysfunction of Travis and Abby was so crazy I couldn't put it down. I would kind of equate it to watching a train wreck. You don't want to see it, but you can't look away either.

Travis is the of guy that all the campus girls want even though they are going to be used and discarded without a second thought. He's into underground fighting, drinking, and chain smoking. He doesn't form attachments to women—until he meets Abby. Then he basically becomes an overbearing, controlling, needy stalker. That combined with the fighting and drinking makes for some interesting situations. He can go from being sweet and thoughtful to insanely crazy within a blink of an eye.

Abby seems to love to torture herself. She wants him, then she doesn't. She and Travis seem to feed from each other's drama.

One thing is for sure, this is a drama-filled story. There is always something going on and no dead spots. With all the craziness of these characters, I never found myself bored with the story. I guess dysfunctional people need love, too. 

AMAZON 




*Book Hollow*
















 

REVIEW: WARM BODIES BY ISAAC MARION

WARM BODIES
WARM BODIES #1
ISAAC MARION
GENRE: PARANORMAL ROMANCE

SYNOPSIS:

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...




MY RATING: 4 STARS

I found Warm Bodies to be highly entertaining. This is such a different and refreshing zombie novel. The zombies in this book are nothing like the zombies we are used to seeing. It's always nice to see an author take a old idea and put a new spin on it. At many times, this book it comical, but in the appropriate places and never overdone.

One thing I noticed (at Goodreads) some readers are shelving this book within the horror genre. This is NOT a horror novel. I can only assume it is because of the subject matter of zombies, but that still does not make it horror. There was not one point in this book that resembles horror to me. It's more along the lines of a paranormal romance story.

The characters are very well written and evolve slowly throughout the book. This made the story believable and the characters likeable. I really loved the memories shared with Perry.

Overall, I really liked this story and would highly recommend it to others. I can't wait to see the movie version of this story.




*Book Hollow*
















 
 
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